Bing, Fred, and Katharine – What They Do Best

17Mar

For some reason, my sister, LM, and I were discussing Bing Crosby and how in every movie he is in, he has to sing a song and that one’s enjoyment of a Bing Crosby film hinges on how much one enjoys a Bing Crosby song.

A Bing Crosby Song

We then moved on to Fred Astaire and how one’s enjoyment of a Fred Astaire movie was directly proportional to how much one likes to watch Fred Astaire dance.

A Fred Astaire Dance

This proceeded to an observation that a movie ought to utilize a performer’s particular skill set and that there are certain expectations that come with casting certain performers. What would be the point of not having Bing Crosby do what he does better than anybody else?

Or doing what he doesn’t do better than anybody else?

To quote LM: “Having Fred Astaire in a movie and not dance would be like having Katharine Hepburn in a movie and not act.”

I wonder what that would look like.

I couldn’t find any examples.

Katharine Hepburn Acting

Nothing beats watching a person doing something well and knocking it out of the ballpark. Here’s to doing what you do best!